The school does not require a laptop so I am wondering when and if I should get one.
In my experience most students have one. At Andover the school provides one for people on Full FA so they must feel it is important to have one.
You should definitely have something that you can take to class or the library with you. I’d say the overwhelming majority of kids have laptops, but at some schools I did see kids with tablets (iPad or otherwise) that they used in class (and I think probably had a desktop in their rooms). One of the things I love about Hotchkiss is that every incoming student gets a new Mac laptop on the first day of school, to have the whole time they’re students at the school. That way it’s easier for the IT department to support them because everyone’s working on the same platform, plus there’s no issues with fancier laptops or tablets being a status symbol.
This year, my school began requiring laptops, but prior, when it was optional, the vast majority of students had one. If your budget allows, I would recommend it.
I think it will be be a must… consider its weight and durability. It will need to be hauled around a lot. So not too heavy and clunky…but not so wafer thin that it can’t handle a little turbulence.
Laptops that will be used by students should be encased in whatever material airplane black-box recorders are made from.
Thank you all~
DS uses desktop at home, yes mostly for gaming, and wants to bring the desktop to BS (he claims it can be a room heater too, lol) but I think a laptop is probably more practical, and come to think of it, a Macbook where not much game can be played may be a better choice. wicked mom 
Don’t be fooled. Online gaming can be played on any computer. The limiting factor in how well suited the computer us for gaming is graphics card & processor speed.
oh well, at least he will get less enjoyment as for the same cost a Mac has inferior graphics/processor. 
@ChoatieMom - I actually looked into the military grade laptops for rural son he was starting his BS career. Extra rugged! Somewhat pricier.
Yup, gaming can be done on a laptop. The reason not to bring a desktop, especially one with a huge display screen, is that your kid’s room can be come ground zero for groups of gaming teenage boys. Good grades/decent sleep and living in the “gaming den” do not usually go hand in hand. They won’t be all crowding around a laptop playing games with each other.
Solebury doesn’t require a laptop; there are computers in the dorm and library, although most kids have their own. I’m not sure if it’s worth spending money on a laptop when there are other things to buy.
If gaming is an issue, get a chromebook…they aren’t made for gamers. It’s a great student friendly, budget friendly “laptop”. My younger daughter has one and she loves it. We got the HP Chromebook it was like $289
I tried to edit my post but there is a error…anyway the chromebook doesn’t have a CD rom so no loading those big games for the gamers. Your online games are available but all are not compatible with this kids of computer.
We sent our S with a Macbook, iPhone, and iPad. iPad was required by the school this year. Only a few teachers have started using the iPad in class, which is a disappointment. A smartphone is great for those anytime day or night emails from teachers on new assignments, updated assignments, plus students find the texting useful for locating friends around campus, etc. The laptop is great mobile tool, handy for word processing and presentations, but I suppose the tablets can do this now too.
DS says Mac too expensive, on chromebook he is convinced that google is the evil empire that collects every information about us so he won’t be using chrome. moi - types this in a chrome browser on a mac. 
Slightly off-topic, but we have a cut-off for that. If I were a parent and my kid’s teachers were sending “anytime day or night emails” on HW, there would be some words exchanged.
Hence my qualifier “if your budget allows.” Yes, I can use the school’s workstations to write my papers, but it is more convenient to do it in my room.
I suggested to DS taking notes with a pencil on paper rather than on tablet/computer and drafting a paper on paper and then typing at the library and he said, no, I can’t read my handwriting.
I guess things are different these days… well, while I was at school, we did not have a computer, nor the internet, nor cell phones (some had a pager) , …
Bill Gates was still young and Jobs was with NeXT.
Should not get it started.